Agence France-Presse reported , citing an “official source,” that Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump held a highly anticipated phone call this evening amid ongoing trade and strategic tensions.
The source stated around 8:00 p.m. Beijing time (12:00 p.m. GMT): “On the evening of September 19, President Xi Jinping is holding a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump.”
It is expected that Trump and Xi will discuss several contentious issues, including the fate of the TikTok app in the United States, trade relations between the two countries—which represent the world’s two largest economies—and the possibility of a future meeting between the presidents.
The conversation is also likely to cover bilateral trade relations. The tariff dispute between the United States and China is currently in a temporary pause, after tensions escalated in April when both countries threatened to impose tariffs exceeding 100% on each other’s goods. In August, Trump signed an executive order to extend the pause until November 10, and Beijing also announced its own extension.
This phone call marks the second between the two presidents since Trump’s inauguration on January 20 and the third since the beginning of the year, with a previous call taking place on January 17.
During their discussions on June 5, the U.S. president said he had received an invitation from his Chinese counterpart to visit China and confirmed that he had invited Xi to visit the United States.